NEW YORK
Daily Mail (UK)
By HANNAH PARRY and LOUISE BOYLE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
The pastor of a secretive New York ‘cult’ where a young man was beaten to death and his younger brother seriously injured is among seven people now charged with his murder.
Lucas Leonard was murdered by a mob of congregants – which included his own parents and half-sister – during a ‘counseling session’ at the Word of Life Church in New Hartford, New York
The 19-year-old was beaten for 11 hours in the sanctuary on October 11 in an attack allegedly organized by the leader, Pastor Tiffany Irwin, after he said he wanted to leave the church. His younger brother Christopher, 17, was also savagely beaten for hours but survived the assault.
Pastor Tiffanie Irwin and her mother Traci Irwin, who originally were not charged in the incident, now face charges of second-degree murder, kidnapping and gang assault.
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